Indian Silverbills (Lonchura malabarica) are found throughout Indian subcontinent and
mostly seen in groups. Quite an active bird that can be spotted foraging the
undergrowth or gregarious group feeding on the ground. As they alight and
swerve in the sky they give impression of sparrows in flight. In the first
instance I was expecting Sind Sparrows (Passer
pyrrhonotus), indeed the reason why I was back at Sultanpur bird sanctuary.
I am quite adamant this time on Sind Sparrows.
Gandhian technologist
On a mission to take
sustainable technologies to common people
Prof Ravi Kumar is a
man driven by passion and reminds you of what Aristotle once said ‘energy of
mind is essence of life’. A practical man he has taken a step further, from
creating awareness to creating actionable awareness. He is a pioneer of sort,
when he was a Professor at NIE (National Institute of Engineering, Mysore), he
initiated CART (Centre for Appropriate Rural Technology). There was a realization
that there are many technologies available for rural development but the target
group for whom these technologies are designed, namely the rural and the poor,
were not getting the benefits due to a lack of proper implementation. Ravi
Kumar firmly held Gandhian thought of technology as a means to empower and not
to enslave, accordingly the Centre, under his aegis, took initiative to collect
available information on rural technologies, compile them and methods to
disseminate them to people needing technological assistance. He is known for
his tireless efforts in Ecological Sanitation as also Rainwater harvesting and
Biochar stove. The common feature being dissemination of technology in a
practical and sustainable manner, using locally available materials and
requirements that makes it affordable and easy to use.
Ecological Sanitation
or EcoSan is sustainable and environment friendly model for toilet which
conserves water, prevents contamination and recycles human waste as sanitized
manure. The objective being to protect human health and environment while
reducing water use in sanitation system and recycling nutrients to help reduce
need for artificial fertilizer in agriculture. EcoSan works on the principle of
keeping the solid waste separate from liquid, consequently there is a separate
exit for urine. Unlike feces urine is full of nutrients hence diluted and used
as fertilizer. Sanitation is a major issue in India with staggering 65% people
not having access to proper sanitation facilities. This has contributed to
spread of communicable diseases. Lack of water is a major concern as also the
cost involved in laying drainage system and so on.
This is where EcoSan toilets
gain critical significance. Further, even in areas where water tables are at
comfortable levels the flush toilets and septic tank seepages tend to
contaminate groundwater and thus are polluting and disease spreading. The case
is worsened in water logged areas. EcoSan provides a perfect solution to these
problems and has revolutionary potentials. It is a safe, sustainable and
affordable sanitation solution. With increasing population and pressure on
natural resources EcoSan provides an effective alternative model. There are
roadblocks, the most important being, as Prof Ravi Kumar puts it “we have
fecalphobia”, we as a society don’t want to talk about feces or matters related
to toilet. “We just want to flush it down, literally!” This issue also has
socio-historical baggage, and tends to excite extreme emotions among people.
The reason why these are neglected at the policy making level, ironically with
detrimental effect on common people. Thankfully with much determination and
persuasion EcoSan is now functioning as a pilot project in three locations at
Udupi, Bangalore rural and Raichur district through UNICEF intervention. As a
community initiative EcoSan toilets have been adopted in Mosara Halla in HD
Kote and Kurabara Kunte in Devanahalli as also by schools in Doddaballapur,
Krishnapura, Moodalakoppal and Kempammanahosur.
This is where EcoSan toilets
gain critical significance. Further, even in areas where water tables are at
comfortable levels the flush toilets and septic tank seepages tend to
contaminate groundwater and thus are polluting and disease spreading. The case
is worsened in water logged areas. EcoSan provides a perfect solution to these
problems and has revolutionary potentials. It is a safe, sustainable and
affordable sanitation solution. With increasing population and pressure on
natural resources EcoSan provides an effective alternative model. There are
roadblocks, the most important being, as Prof Ravi Kumar puts it “we have
fecalphobia”, we as a society don’t want to talk about feces or matters related
to toilet. “We just want to flush it down, literally!” This issue also has
socio-historical baggage, and tends to excite extreme emotions among people.
The reason why these are neglected at the policy making level, ironically with
detrimental effect on common people. Thankfully with much determination and
persuasion EcoSan is now functioning as a pilot project in three locations at
Udupi, Bangalore rural and Raichur district through UNICEF intervention. As a
community initiative EcoSan toilets have been adopted in Mosara Halla in HD
Kote and Kurabara Kunte in Devanahalli as also by schools in Doddaballapur,
Krishnapura, Moodalakoppal and Kempammanahosur.
EcoSan toilet’s spin
off benefit too is significant in terms of organic manure. “This will reduce
the dependence on chemical fertilizers” asserts Prof Kumar. Many farmers are
falling into debt because of deteriorating soil nutrient content due to intensive use
of chemical fertilizers, they are trapped in a vicious attritional cycle. Ravi
Kumar informs that “an individual’s feces produces 7.5 kg of NPK over a year,
this is the manure requirement for cereals that is consumed by an individual in
a year. Life is in a self sustaining cycle”. It is not that these are new
knowledge; many communities have been practicing these since ages like for
instance the Tibetans. Prof. Kumar points to Mahatma Gandhi as a source of
inspiration, when he visited Wardha he found that Gandhiji practiced compost
toilets. Prof. Kumar has also been instrumental in the creation of Nesara, an organic farmer’s community in
Mysore with a motto of safe food at affordable price.
Prof. Kumar took me to
the porch of his house to show the model of Biochar stove, called Anila, he had developed that has earned
him international repute. It is unique in its design as biomass fuel is placed
between two concentric cylinders while the outer filling biomass undergoes
pyrolysis thus produces biochar, these activated carbon helps in heat recovery
and also negligible smoke. Biochar has appreciable carbon sequestration value
and is a soil enhancer, these highly porous charcoal helps retain soil
nutrients and water. Also, any size biomass could be added and therefore is not
dependent on wood. “In villages there is a substantial bio-residues during
agriculture related activities that go waste, like arecanut husk or coconut
shell these can be turned into efficient biofuel and biochar manure” informs
Prof. Kumar. Anila is a cost
effective and efficient smokeless stove that is ‘carbon negative’. Though there
is a demand for the stove in rural areas, Kumar is gloomy as he is not able to
break even. There is a an institutional support needed for these efforts apart
from ofcourse policy making that understands the needs of common people and
sustainable development.
